Differentiate sharp, flat and esdrújulas words -SUMMARY + VIDEO + EXERCISES
When it comes to power accent correctly the words in Castilian, it is essential to know what type of word we are facing, that is, if we are facing an acute, flat or esdrújula. Knowing the type of word, we can put into practice the knowledge about the rules of accentuation and, thus, know if it has an accent or not. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to help you learn to differentiate sharp, flat and esdrújulas words. Here we leave you an easy summary with the video of our teacher, as well as printable exercises with their solutions so that you can practice and better understand what has been explained.
In order to learn to differentiate sharp, flat and esdrújulas words it is important that you bear in mind that the key element is the stressed syllable. And it is that, as soon as we know in which part of the word this syllable is found, we will be able to know which word. We leave you here a brief summary that will help you better understand this concept:
- Sharp. They are the words that have the stressed syllable in the last position. (Example: Ca-mi-on)
- Flat or serious. They are the words that have the stressed syllable in the penultimate position. (Example: Mu-ñe-AC)
- Esdrújulas. They have the stressed syllable in the penultimate position. (Example: The m-in order to)
Therefore, to be able to differentiate sharp, flat and esdrújula words, it is essential that you detect which is the stressed syllable and, then, you will know perfectly what type of word you have in front of you. An ideal trick to be able to make this differentiation is that say the word out loud What are you working; Remember that not every time, the stressed syllable appears graphically with the accent and, therefore, you must detect where it is by evaluating the strength of your voice.
Example to practice
For example, we are going to analyze the following word: MANUALITY. At first glance, we don't know what word it is; therefore, we recommend that pronounce aloud this word changing force of your intonation:
- ma-nua-li-DAD
- man-nua-li-dad
- ma-NUA-li-dad
The exercise consists of pronouncing this word aloud, placing the force of the intonation on the syllable that is marked in capital letters. When you do, all you have to ask yourself is which of the 3 pronunciations is the one you usually hear.
The first is the correct option, the stressed syllable falls on the last syllable and, therefore, we are facing an ACUTE. This is the practice that we recommend that you carry out when you are faced with a word that, with the naked eye, you cannot detect correctly.
To finish this lesson on how to differentiate between sharp, flat and esdrújulas words, we are going to review the main rules of accentuation of each of these words. Thus, you can more easily remember how it should be accentuated in Spanish when we are in front of a water, flat or esdrújula.
Sharp word accentuation
The acute words are those that have the stressed syllable in the last part of the word. And, generally speaking, the rules of treble accentuation are as follows:
- They have an accent when they end in a vowel
- They are always accented when they end in / n /, / s /
Plain words accentuation
The llanas are the words that have the tonic on the penultimate syllable. To be able to accentuate them correctly with the graphic accent, you must take into account these rules:
- They are always accentuated when they DO NOT end in / n /, / s /
- They are not accentuated when they end in a vowel
Accentuation of esdrújulas
And we ended up talking about the accentuation of the esdrújulas. In general terms, you have to know that the words esdrújulas, that is to say those that have the tonic in the third to last syllable, They are ALWAYS accentuated. Although there is an exception: adverbs ending in / -mente / are not stressed. Here we leave you examples of esdrújulas words with or without accent so you see this exception.
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